Grant School Principal's Newsletter
April 18, 2016
Drop off and pick up reminders!
The drop off and pick up location for students are Grant Ave, Phillips and Sunnyslope. This keeps our students safe as they arrive and depart each school day. Do NOT drive into the parking lot to drop off or pick up your students! There have been a number of dangerous situations where staff or students were nearly hit by cars driving a loop through the parking lot.
Additionally, please do not allow your children to arrive to school too early. Students are not allowed in the building before 7:50 AM unless they have a scheduled meeting with a teacher.
5th grade parent meeting-April 28th
Campus Beautification Kick-off Party – Sunday, May 1, 10am- 2pm
Celebrate Earth Day and help us kick-off Grant School’s exciting campus beautification project!
With generous donations from the PTA and the Grant Community, we are excited to kick-start our campus beautification project on Sunday, May 1st from 10am - 2pm. We need volunteers to help us clean up garden spaces, plant the beds in the quad with fresh, new designs, and assist with a fun activity for the kids. Participants will be treated to lunch generously provided by Chipotle. Please click on the link to join us for a fun day of making our campus more beautiful! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/508044baaa72ca75-campus Questions? Contact: Lisa ldecota@gmail.com or Ms. Megna jmegna@petk12.org
Common Sense on Talking Safely Online
Kids love connecting with others online. Most young people talk online only with their friends and family. But as a parent, you might be concerned that a stranger with bad intent (predator) could contact your child. Predatory behavior is when people contact your child on the Internet (mostly through instant messaging, chat rooms, or social networking sites) and attempt to “groom” your child for a relationship. These people try to win children’s trust by hiding their true identities. They may try to get kids into creepy or dangerous situations by pretending to have similar interests, giving them compliments, and letting them talk about anything they want. They typically tell children to keep the friendship secret, and they may even threaten kids if they tell anybody. As the relationship develops, the predator may send pictures, ask a child to send them pictures, and then ask to meet face to face.
Why Does It Matter?
Teaching your child to be alert about how predators groom their targets is crucial to keeping your child safe. With very small kids, it is best if you are present when they are online. At this age, you may choose to block your kids from talking online, or create strict rules for them to follow about who they can talk to. For older elementary school children, you may choose to give them more freedom after first discussing how to stay safe online.
Common sense says
- Discuss responsible online behavior. Establish rules for appropriate instant messaging and chatting online, and explain that you’re enforcing those rules because you care about their safety. You may want to involve an older sibling who can model good online behavior and can stay involved in their younger siblings’ online lives.
- Establish rules for who’s okay to talk to. Online talk should generally be with people your children know, like family and friends.
- Set boundaries for what topics are okay to discuss. Kids shouldn’t answer questions online that make them feel uncomfortable. They also shouldn’t talk about adult topics with strangers.
- Make sure your child feels safe telling a trusted adult. If something creepy or inappropriate happens online, kids need to know they won’t get in trouble if they tell an adult they trust. Also, avoid banning them from the computer. Kids are less likely to tell parents when they experience a problem on the computer if they think as a result they won’t be allowed to use it.
- Remind your kids not to give strangers private information. Kids should never give out their name, address, school, phone number, email, pictures, or anything that could identify who they are.
- Block, ignore, or leave. Most kids know to brush off unwanted contact. Encourage this behavior.
- Look for warning signs. Does your child seem withdrawn, emotionally distant, spend endless hours online, or seem to be hiding something? The kids who get sucked into inappropriate online relationships often show warning signs. They might be hiding an online relationship they don’t want you to know about. If you think this might be happening, ask your child about it!
For more information, please go to commonsense.org
Information from commonsense.org
FREE Admission - 2 Showtimes - Grant Performing Arts The Jungle Book!
A very Grant Elementary Jungle Book version is coming Friday, April 29, 6pm, and Saturday, April 30, 4pm. Brought to you by the 2016 Grant Performing Arts Committee, students and parent volunteers have been working hard to bring this lively, heartwarming Rudyard Kipling classic to life for the Grant community. There is no cost to attend. Baked goods will be available for purchase to support the Grant Performing Arts Program. Come one, come all, the bare necessities are coming to Grant!
Ninth Annual Westside Band Festival!
Wednesday, April 27, 2016 - 7:00PM
This year’s Band Festival will be a fun evening of band music, with all grade levels (4th-12th) participating in the Grand Finale. If you haven’t already done so, please return the bottom portion of the letter sent home with your child, indicating that you and your child will be able to attend. Please click here for a copy of the Festival information letter.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Grant Elementary School
Email: etodd@petk12.org
Website: http://www.grantelementary.org/
Location: 200 Grant Avenue, Petaluma, CA, United States
Phone: 707-778-4742
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grant-PTA-Petaluma/100243750022291?fref=ts
Twitter: @grantshamrocks